The assessment of food safety culture in small franchise restaurant in Poland: The case study

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to measure and assess the level of food safety culture (FSC) in the restaurant operating in the SUBWAY franchise network.

Design/methodology/approach

The case study accompanied by the questionnaire built of 38 items grouped into five areas/sections: management style/food safety (FS) policy, leadership, communication, commitment and work environment.

Findings

The level of FSC is 3.83 on a 1–5 scale. It requires further improvement and taking greater care of FS. The work environment and management style/FS policy were assessed the highest, while leadership and communication the lowest. There is a need to increase the frequency of meetings that address the issue of FS, ensure a better atmosphere of mutual trust and sharing knowledge about potential problems. It is also necessary to appreciate FS initiatives as well as review the number and suitability of existing procedures.

Research limitations/implications

In further studies, the case study accompanied by a questionnaire could be supported by additional qualitative methods, e.g. interviews with employees, observations or mystery shopping.

Practical implications

The results may help managers to verify and improve the overall FS policy in the restaurant and to encourage ongoing assessment of FSC in other franchise network entities that will take into account the critical aspects of FSC indicated in the case study.

Originality/value

In the literature, the issue of the role and meaning as well as the assessment of FSC has been undertaken for many years; however, there are no papers considering small restaurants from Central Europe. This is also the first paper in Poland that addresses the aspect of FSC and its assessment.

Citation

Wiśniewska, M., Czernyszewicz, E. and Kałuża, A. (2019), "The assessment of food safety culture in small franchise restaurant in Poland: The case study", British Food Journal, Vol. 121 No. 10, pp. 2365-2378. https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-03-2019-0152